An Uninspired Start and a Satisfying End

On November 6, the Emmaus Eagles basketball team traveled down to Wyoming, MI to play in a JFB tournament at Grace Bible College. Coming off of a dismantling of UW-Richland earlier in the week, the Eagles' confidence was high and they were looking to compete against a very talented Grace team. As the game started, it was clear that Grace was out of the Eagles' league. Boasting a 7 footer and a couple other 6'8" players, Grace made the Eagles look tiny in comparison. Any hope of this being a David beating Goliath story faded almost immediately as Grace got off to a hot start and Emmaus struggled to get anything going. Coupled with poor shooting and untimely errors, Grace led all the way and coasted to a 82-36 victory. Coach Wilkerson had this to say: " The coaching staff takes the blame for not preparing the guys enough for the defense they threw out at us.  With that said, we feel like errors were made that don't usually happen and that several guys were shell-shocked at the fact that we were playing such good competition. This game did not reflect Emmaus basketball and I have full confidence that tomorrow, we will return to form."

The Eagles' proved their coach right, despite starting off to another shaky start. They were able to coast to a victory against Dayspring Bible College 82-67. With four guys scoring in double figures (Sandry, Ruter, Postma and Glidewell), Emmaus led by two at the end of the half and outscored the opponent by 15 in the second. "It was good to pull out a win on the road, especially on the end of a back-to-back." Coach Wilkerson shared. "We do have some cleaning up to do: help defense, rebounding, and shots falling. However, I never had a doubt that we would win this game as my guys are the more talented and disciplined team. I was proud of their character tonight and am excited to see growth in a lot of them."